SCORE - Science-based Community Outreach

About SCORE

For more than 30 years, Chiang Mai University’s Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU-CMU) has performed research, to develop effective methods to restore forest ecosystems for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection.

SCORE is our unit's flagship outreach project, designed to disseminate those novel methods to those involved in restoring northern Thailand's diverse forest ecosystems, with sponsorship from the Keidanren Nature Conservation Foundation .

SCORE aims to enable and empower communities, NGOs and schools to restore forest ecosystems, using knowledge and skills, based on FORRU-CMU's research. The project will provide training in all the regular forest-restoration tasks, such as seed collection, growing trees in nurseries as well as tree planting, maintenance and monitoring. But more than that—SCORE will introduce participants to exciting new technologies that make forest restoration easier to implement. These include seed banking, drones to survey sites and track progress, apps that match trees with sites and track them after planting, camera traps to detect the return of animal diversity and training tools based on virtual and augmented reality (in collaboration with NSTDA-SIMPLE project) .VR Forest for testing restoration strategies - learning from mistakes in a virtual forest to avoid real-world ecological damage.

What Could SCORE Offer Your Organization?

• Collaborative Kick-off Workshop: A dedicated session to brief participating organizations and perform a needs assessment to tailor project activities.
• Comprehensive Educators’ Manual: A detailed guide covering basic nursery and field protocols, alongside new technologies like VR, AR and drones.
• Train-the-Trainers’ Workshops: Specialized workshops for NGO educators and teachers to introduce and master new supportive restoration technologies (in collaboration with NSTDA-SIMPLE project).
• Community & NGO Workshops: Practical training on basic restoration techniques and the latest tree-tracking apps for local practitioners.
• School Restoration Events: Hands-on restoration experiences to engage and inspire the younger generation.
• There's more to tree planting than just planting trees.Support for Community Tree Nurseries: Provision of materials for existing nurseries and to establish new ones.
• Online Seed-Swap Facility: A web-based platform, connected to the CMU seed bank, to facilitate the exchange of diverse native tree seeds among participating organizations.
• Tree-Planting Events: Tree planting, maintenance (weeding and fertilizer application) and monitoring events – volunteers welcomed.
• Structured Online Learning: A modular online course, providing foundational knowledge to all those getting started as forest restoration practitioners.
• Annual “Forest Celebration”: A vibrant event, at which all participating organizations can share their progress, exchange experiences and celebrate their successes through music, art and activity stations.

Celebrating forests through a collaborative art project at last years Forest Celebration event. Under SCORE, we can continue to provide this popular annual event.  Join Us in Restoring Northern Thailand's Forests

If your organization is restoring forest ecosystems in northern Thailand and would like to jump on board SCORE, please let us know through the "contact us" tab above.